Revolutionary Nostalgia : Retromania, Neo-Burlesque, and Consumer Culture

"Nostalgia, they say, is not what it used to be. Once a witticism, this statement about the past has come to pass. Nostalgia really isn't what it used to be. Less than a generation ago, it was regarded as reactionary, as regressive, as reprehensible. Now, it is considered conducive to health, wealth, and human wellbeing. It is something that helps sell products and move merchandise, an underexploited critical resource with emancipatory potential. Nowhere is this transformation better illustrated than in the neo-burlesque community, whose members not only embrace the art-form's golden age, and happily acquire heritage goods and vintage services, but turn their nostalgic leanings to emancipatory effect. They are retro revolutionaries, feather boa-wearing insurgents who find women's liberation in sequins and stilettos. This book shines a spotlight on weapons-grade nostalgia, indicating how it is integral to insurrections throughout history, be they political, technological, or cultural. It reveals, through a combination of empirical ethnographic research and revolutionary literary criticism, the part nostalgia plays in a subversive consumer collective that uses fans, fishnets, and frivolity to fight for the right to party against patriarchy and find a fourth-wave form of female emancipation that foregoes old-school feminist fault-finding for good old-fashioned fun, fun, fun"-- Back cover Revolutionary Nostalgia Revolutionary Nostalgia Retromania, Neo-Burlesque and Consumer Culture Contents Preface: Retromania in Retrospect Introduction Chapter 1: Welcome to Wonderland Back to Front Back Attack Back Track Back and Forth Section I: Past & Present Chapter 2: Borne Back Ceaselessly What is Nostalgia When it’s at Home? What’s New Nowadays? The Name Game Pin Afore A Thing or Two Chapter 3: Wheel Meet Again Go Retro Retrocopia Retrotopia Retroyoyo Retrotypes Chapter 4: Come the Revolution The Past is a Package Holiday The End is So-not Nigh Criticising the Critics Anarchy in the Archive Women of the World, Unite Where’s Walter? Section II: Focus & Findings Chapter 5: Burlesque in Brief Don’t Look Back Burlesque’s Beginnings Can Can-Do Going Down Shakin’ All Over Back on Top Chapter 6: Considering Consumer Culture Share and Share Alike Wilful Women, Together Forever Prepare for Take Off Hofer Hoofer Twofer Chapter 7: Fans of Freedom Show me the Benjamins Nostalgia in Abundance Variations on a Theme There’s No Place like TAZ Echoes of Anarchy The Boys are Backing Down The Routine Self-Help Sisterhood Warrior Women Withstand Partisans in Pasties Patriarchy? Pah! Censorious Counter-Revolutionaries PIN-Money Section III: Context & Concepts Chapter 8 : Ghost Dance Stance Double, Double Dead Brands Walking Ghost of a Dance Retro Manes Incorporeal Concepts Derrida Denied The Grapes of Wraith Chapter 9: Retro Rising Redux The Womb Boom Pomo Pick ’n’ Mix Upping the Antecedent Object-orientated Odalisques Ant Can’t Chapter 10: Dancing is Life Taking the Apistos Damien, we Have a Problem Waving or Drowning? Tinkering with Tropes Mirror of Desire The Once and Future Conclusion Chapter 11: At the Hop Is Ooh La La Our Sha Na Na? Fans of Fun Moving Forward on Looking Backward The Next Big Thing Before Last Appendix 1: Some Definitions of Nostalgia Appendix 2: List of Informants References Index Long regarded as a maudlin mental state, nostalgia is everywhere and has been reimagined as a signifier of good mental health. It is no longer the bailiwick of right-wing reactionaries but a crucible of critical thinking and revolutionary intent. This book explores the revolution in nostalgia and the nostalgia in revolution.